Authorities of Hirakud Dam released water as it crossed 618.69 feet

Bhubaneswar, Aug 14: The authorities on Wednesday released the first flood water of the season from Hirakud Dam as the water level in the reservoir inched close to its full capacity.

According to the officials, the water level in the reservoir had reached to 618.69 feet. The full capacity of Hirakud Dam is at 630 feet.

The water was released from gate number seven of the dam at 11:26 am.

After heavy rainfall in the area, water had burst onto the railway tracks between Sambalpur-Titlagarh section affected train services.

Odisha: Authorities release water from Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur. pic.twitter.com/L8sXlZyW2i

— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2019

Sambalpur District Collector Subham Saxena, Chief Engineer of the project Sunil Naik, Executive Engineer Nirakar Bishi, Divisional Forest Officer Sanjeet Kumar and other district-level officials were also present the water was released.

Hundreds of people had also gathered at the spot to witness the annual event.